The following is an article running in todays Tulsa Tribune. The article is kinda vague with regards to chipping. But from what I've heard is if the bill passes, then table games (Blackjack yes, Poker maybe) will be re-opened at the tribal casinos. So chips will be back in play.

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House to consider electronic gaming bill
By MARIE PRICE World Capitol Bureau
2/26/2004

The speaker is confident of passing the measure that links race tracks and tribal gaming.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A bill that would allow race tracks to offer electronic gaming, clear up questions over the legality of some tribal games and give the state revenues from both is due a House vote Thursday.

"I think that when the votes go on the board, we'll have 51 votes," said House Speaker Larry Adair, D-Stilwell, principal House author of Senate Bill 553. It takes 51 votes to pass a bill in the 101-member House.

Adair said Thursday's vote will not be a test-the-waters move merely to get House members on record on the measure that has already passed the Senate.

"No, why would we do that?" he asked.

"We've worked on this issue for two years and it's time to put the votes on the board and time to see where people stand," Adair said. "If you're for Oklahoma, you'll vote

for 553. If you really are not for Oklahoma and you want to see Oklahoma go backwards, then I suppose those people will vote no."

SB 553 would allow Remington Park, Will Rogers Downs and Blue Ribbon Downs to offer limited numbers of electronic games. Fair Meadows will not be allowed to operate games, but will share in revenues from Tulsa-area tribal casinos. The bill also outlines a model tribal gaming compact.

The state would share in gaming revenues from both.

Adair acknowledged that the gaming vote might be a difficult one for some members.

"I think that members are seriously considering the vote they're going to cast," he said. "I think they've done a lot of soul-searching."

Adair took offense at rumors of "deal-making," offering members post-term-limit jobs or other incentives to vote for the bill.

"There's no deal-making," he said. "I've made no deals and I've made it very clear I'll not be a part of that. We're going to pass 553 on the merits of what it speaks to."

For the second day in a row, horsemen, tribal officials and other proponents were at the Capitol on Wednesday trying to drum up votes.

Horseman Joe Lucas of Golds by said the bill will mean $30 million in purses for winning horses, as well as saving 50,000 horse-industry jobs.

Lucas, also president of the Oklahoma Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, said the increased purses will put Oklahoma tracks on a competitive level with those in other states.

Ron Shotts, racing director at Tulsa's Fair Meadows, said the additional gaming revenue, plus fairgrounds improvements that were part of Vision 2025, will elevate the fairgrounds' role in Tulsa's economic future. He said the two changes will help attract national events.

"The upside to this for Tulsa is just tremendous," Shotts said.

Former Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Wilma Mankiller said a strong coalition of state officials, horsemen, tribes and education representatives supports SB 553.

"It's an Oklahoma initiative," Mankiller said.

The former chief said without the bill, tribal gaming will continue, but education and the horse industry will be the losers.

Becky Felts, vice president of the Oklahoma Education Association, said the $70 million the bill could generate for education will replace some of the funding schools have lost over the last few years.

"Our students desperately need this funding," Felts said.

Choctaw Chief Greg Pyle said $70 million will come to the state without a tax increase.

Pyle also pointed out that 80 percent of his tribe's gaming revenues come from out-of-state visitors.

Jo Pettigrew with the Oklahoma Education Coalition said Oklahoma has lost about 2,000 teachers to other states in recent years due to budget reductions.

"It's really important to us that we have a new stream of revenue," she said.

Debbie Schauf, executive director of the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing Association, said the state's horse industry may not survive unless the bill is approved.

"A vote against this bill is a vote to just kill an industry," she said.